Chris Horodecki

CHICAGO, Ill. (April 2, 2012) — As Bellator Fighting Championships makes its long awaited return to Canada, it brings with it a stacked fight card headlined by a Bellator Welterweight Title Fight between World Champion Ben Askren and Season 5 Tournament Winner Douglas Lima, a Season 6 Featherweight Tournament semifinal featuring dangerous Brazilian Marlon Sandro and Alexandre “Popo” Bezerra and the first two fights in the Season 6 Bantamweight Tournament.

The night will also feature a loaded preliminary card filled with some of the best talent across Canada. The event will broadcast live starting at 8 p.m. EST on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX.

The night will feature the return of Bellator veteran and London, Ontario native Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki as he battles Minnesota’s Mike “The Marine” Richman in a lightweight fight. Horodecki brings with him an impressive 18-3-1 record while the 11-1 Richman is looking to impress the Bellator brass in his debut with the promotion.

Affliction Entertainment today officially announced their third-ever event, “Trilogy”, which will take place on Saturday, August 1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. As expected, the show will be headlined by a much-anticipated heavyweight clash between Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett.

While no other fights on the card have been confirmed, some heavily rumored matchups include former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia facing Paul Buentello, Jay Hieron going up against Paul Daley and a previously scheduled bout between Chris Horodecki and Dan Lauzon.

Upstart boxing promotion Prize Fight Promotions has teamed up with local Mississippi mixed martial arts promoters Fight Force International to put on quite the MMA event in Biloxi, Mississippi on June 27. The show will be headlined by an intriguing (to say the least) heavyweight bout between former professional wrestler Bobby Lashley and PRIDE and K-1 veteran Bob Sapp.

There are plenty of other notable bouts on the card as well. Dangerous strikers Gilbert Yvel and Pedro Rizzo will clash following their respective losses to Josh Barnett in recent Affliction show in the co-main event. Din Thomas will take on fellow longtime veteran Javier Vasquez, who is coming out of a temporary retirement, in a featherweight bout, and former IFL lightweight standout Chris Horodecki will face William Sriyapai.

Even Affliction VP Tom Atencio is on the card. (For those who are unaware, Atencio already has a pro fight under his belt. He earned a decision over David Martinez at Total Combat 7 in January 2005)

The current lineup for the event is below. Not all of the fights have been officially signed as of yet and more details regarding the event are expected to come at a press conference in Biloxi in two weeks. The event will be televised on IN DEMAND and Direct TV PPV.

Here are your daily news and notes for the evening of January 22, 2009.

- Total Fighting Alliance veteran Bobby Green has agreed to step in as a last-minute opponent for UFC veteran Dan Lauzon at Affliction Entertainment’s “Day of Reckoning” show on Saturday night in Anaheim, California. If Green passes all required medical tests and paperwork in time for the event, he will be cleared to replace Chris Horodecki, who was forced off of the card because of a bulging disc in his neck.

- The Palace Fighting Championship has announced that their scheduled flyweight title bout between Rambaa Somdet and Pat Runez has been scrapped due to Somdet suffering from a pre-existing neck injury. “I thought I would be able to do it. I thought I would just fight as hard as I could in the first round,” Somdet said in a press release put out this afternoon. “It’s a pre-existing injury. I’ve had it forever six or seven years now. I think I have a torn tendon or something in my shoulder and I woke up after weigh-ins and I was in so much pain.”

Here are your daily news and notes for the morning of January 22, 2009.

- Former IFL lightweight standout Chris Horodecki has been forced out of his scheduled bout against Dan Lauzon at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” show this weekend after failing his medical tests under the watch of the California State Athletic Commission due to a bulging disk in his neck. According to Sherdog.com, the injury is restricting 80% of the strength in Horodecki’s right arm and the CSAC has refused to license him for the fight. Affliction officials are currently searching for a replacement opponent for Lauzon are expected to make a decision at some point today.

- Gilbert Yvel, infamously known for assaulting referees and misbehaving during fights, has officially been released to fight Josh Barnett at Saturday’s Affliction show. CSAC represenative Bill Douglas is comparing Yvel’s licensing process to the struggles that Mike Kyle and Kazushi Sakuraba went through before being permitted to fight in the state in the past. Yvel will also apparently be under a very watchful eye when he fights, as if he wasn’t going to be already.

From an International Fight League event in June 2007, here’s highly-touted lightweight prospect Chris Horodecki taking on standout collegiate wrestler Shad Lierley. The first round of the fight is above. The rest of the bout is after the jump.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow for Affliction Entertainment’s second PPV effort, Day of Reckoning. The fight card will feature Fedor Emelianenko defending his WAMMA Heavyweight Championship against former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Andre “The Pitbull” Arlovski. The event is set to take place on January 24, 2009 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

A previously signed bout between former IFL lightweight standout Chris Horodecki and UFC veteran Dan Lauzon will reportedly take place at Affliction Entertainment’s “Day of Reckoning” show on January 24 according to MMA Weekly.

Strikeforce vice president Mike Afromowitz stated in the report that his organization attempted to match Horodecki up against Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson on November 21 but the Canadian is now unable to be booked due to his Affliction commitments. Horodecki’s management team at the North County Fight Club has also reportedly confirmed his fight against Lauzon as being official.

Horodecki became a free agent upon asking for his release from the almost-defunct International Fight League earlier this month. He was previously rumored to have been taking on Takanori Gomi at Sengoku IV next weekend but talks eventually broke down. Horodecki last won a unanimous decision over Nate Lamotte in April.

Since losing consecutive Spencer Fisher and Deividas Taurosevicius, Lauzon has racked up six straight wins fighting primarily in the Boston area. He most recently scored a second-round TKO of Brendan Hoxie at a World Championship Fighting event in June.

A welterweight bout between IFL veteran Brett Cooper and undefeated prospect Patrick Speight will reportedly finalize Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” card, which will take place on October 11th at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV according to a report by MMA News.

Affliction VP Tom Atencio was said to have confirmed Cooper vs. Speight as the final bout to be signed for the event yesterday. Both fighters were originally scheduled to be part of Affliction’s “Banned” show on July 19 but were removed from the card due to unknown reasons.

A previously rumored lightweight battle between former IFL lightweight standout Chris Horodecki and UFC veteran Dan Lauzon will most likely take place at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” show on October 11th in Las Vegas.

Both fighters have reportedly agreed to the fight according to Sherdog.com. Bout agreements have yet to be signed. Lauzon’s camp is said to be waiting to see paperwork for the bout before making signing a multi-fight deal with Affliction.

Horodecki became a free agent upon asking for his release from the almost-defunct International Fight League earlier this month. He was previously rumored to have been taking on Takanori Gomi at Sengoku IV next weekend but talks eventually broke down. Horodecki last won a unanimous decision over Nate Lamotte in April.

Since losing consecutive Spencer Fisher and Deividas Taurosevicius, Lauzon has racked up six straight wins fighting primarily in the Boston area. He most recently scored a second-round TKO of Brendan Hoxie at a World Championship Fighting event in June.